Specifications:This lens employs an IF (Internal Focusing) system that maintains the overall length of the lens during focusing. Uses two LD (Low Dispersion) glass elements that effectively compensate for chromatic aberration. Provides high-contrast, outstanding image quality and a soft out-of-focus background effect. Incorporates an AF/MF one touch switchover mechanism built into the focus ring(for Canon & Nikon only). Super performance series provides high performance through outstanding design specifications. Features the new FEC (Filter Effect Control) function that enhances operational ease of Polarizing Filter use. The new Filter Effect Control is designed to rotate the filter to the desired position while the hood is attached. This is accomplished by turning the FEC ring that in turn rotates the portion of the filter mount where the filter is mounted.

Image quality, build quality, people are impressed when they see you with this lens, 1:1 macro, 3.5 is pretty good speed, seems sharpest at f/4 so you don't have to stop down much, works well with 1.4 becomes good tele

Cons:

Needs focus limiting switch

This lens has good, perhaps great, image quality. I use it wide open all the time in the macro range and closer to infinity with good results. It is good with a 1.4 teleconverter, which I have on mine perhaps most of the time. Turns it in to the 35mm/FF equivalent of 400mm on a 1.6 sensor!!! Plus 1.4x magnification in macro!!! Since a 400/5.0 is adequate for wildlife, this is a tele as well. Without teleconverter is about 300mm 35mm equivalent, so still a decent tele on 1.6 crop. A lot of people with 300/4 IS on FF. I probably lose some sharpness with the teleconverter as always, but it is usable even wide open.

Popular Photograpy said this lens was at its best in the macro range at 5.6. I think this is probably true, which is good for me because I use it handheld.

Did an informal test on a brick wall and f/4 seemed the sharpest aperture in the center at about 15ft. from subject. I've heard "ideal" lenses are sharpest wide open, so perhaps close to ideal.

I dropped this lens from 2-3 ft. landed on fake hardwood floor. Never sent it in for a repair. The manual focus is a bit goofed up but the lens Still works. Still sharp. Great build quality.

Love the 1:1 macro. Much better than half life size.

The AF on this lens can drive you nuts when it hunts down to 1:1 though. Needs focus limiting switch. Also would prefer an on off switch for AF, but the clutch has it's advantages, much easier to reach when using the lens.

Got mine from KEH for 525 when the Canon new was about 1100 so saved money, too.

Great for bugs and stuff, more distance from subject, good speed, plus good tele.

I recommend this lens.

Apr 5, 2010

CJBushnellOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: May 24, 2009Location: United KingdomPosts: 0

Review Date: Jan 20, 2010

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

- usual incredible macro sharpness
- possibly the longest working distance for all canon compatible macros
- comes with hood and tripod ring
- less than half the price of the Canon 180mm and reputedly as sharp

Cons:

- that FEL filter spinning device is a minus if you're using a ring flash or twin flash, but not insurmountable.

First of all - this is a Very sharp lens.

I bought this used on ebay, from Canada (I wonder if it's the same lens sold by the poster who gave it a 2 on this site?). I paid half what I would have paid for it new, and that is less than half what the Canon version costs new. £300 - what a bargain!!!

I keep thinking about buying a 60mm in addition to this one, due to it's portability (It would fit in my pocket as opposed to my 180 with convertors and MR14 EX ringflash - which doesn't ), but then I remember what's so great about this lens and I realise that that 'handy pocket sized 60mm just wouldn't give me what I find so useful in the 180mm

1. - Working distance! This lens has the longest working distance of all the canon compatible macros - the canon 180 is very close, but as mentioned it's twice the price new. That distance is Great for shooting insects which is what I do most for macro. Dragonflies, damselflies, etc are quite twitchy and you often do need that extra working distance so as not to scare them off.

2. - Works well with teleconvertors (I'm not sure that a 60mm would be so good as telecons are not really designed for such short focal lengths). I've used it often with a canon 1.4x teleconvertor and also with a 2x convertor, attached by adding a 12mm extension tube between the convertor and the lens. It works really well although you do loose infinity focus due to the extension tube and sometimes that's annoying (if you suddenly see something that's more than a few feet away, you can't take that picture (butterflies, randomly appearing deer, hares etc). Solution - I bought the kenko pro 300 DG 1.4x which fits without the need for an extension tube. Initial tests indicate it's optically equal to the canon (amazingly).

Occaisionally I consider replacing this lens with the canon 180, but all the reviews I've read say that optically, this Tamron is a whisker better, so for the weather sealing and the red ring - I just don't think it's worth it.

slow af. The "click-clack" -system in focusing ring does not feel always good.

Excellent macro lens! Optically impressive and leaves just nothing to desire. Really sharp in all apertures, CA well in controll, colours are beautiful, no distortion, vignetting minimal. This is not an easy lens to handle, because Dof is very short in large apertures and because of the slow af the "click-clack" (af-to-mf) -system in focusing ring must be used a lot. But, all in all, after some practice the lens works fine and the most important, the results, are always good. I do not hesitate to recommend this lens. In my opinion belongs to the same league as Canon ef 135 f2.

Aug 17, 2009

lamontsandersOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Apr 7, 2009Location: United StatesPosts: 352

Review Date: Jun 1, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Incredibly sharp, not too heavy, very very very high IQ, contrast and colors are beautiful and accurate, absolute bargain

Cons:

AF takes a while if you are not already in the ballpark. I usually AF and then fine tune my MF.

I used EF-s Canon 60mm F/2.8 and needed more working distance. I did not want to sacrifice IQ or 1200 dollars for a specialized lens. After reviewing all sorts of samples, charts, internet forums, etc. I realized that the Canon is better built. It's sexier. It has the red ring. Optically, however, it is no better than the Tamron. The DOF is really small at 3.5, but even wide open the lens takes amazing shots. I can't recommend the lens highly enough; it feels very solid in hand. It is not as solid as my 70-200 F/4L, but it's in the ballpark; more solid than my Sigma 50/1.4. If you need working distance and you don't plan on spending 700 more dollars for the same performance (most tests indicate the Tamron is actually the superior lens optically), then do the right thing and buy this lens. You will love it.

Jun 1, 2009

svx94Offline[ X ]

Registered: Mar 25, 2005Location: CanadaPosts: 657

Review Date: Feb 1, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Sharp, good color, good AF speed for non-macro use, nice design of the filter turner, good build

Cons:

no manual focus override in AF.

Like all Tamron lenses, the whole package is impressive. Very nice build, good and solid body, lens case is nice and useful. On my Canon 20D, the lens focus quite fast for non-macro use. Macro focus is a challenge as all macro lenses. The biggest problem is when you switch to AF, MF is totally disengaged, there is no manual override like Canon's new USM lenses.

IQ is very good, especially the color. I do notice the contrast is not as high as Nikon's 105mm/2.8 VR, which gets the hi-tech Nano coating. But Canon lenses are no match to Nikon's Nano coated lenses.

The lens filter section has a turning ring, so you can use c-PL filter with hood on. Very nice and useful.

It performs well as portrait lens too.

Feb 1, 2009

boraxxOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Oct 9, 2008Location: United StatesPosts: 0

Review Date: Oct 9, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $625.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

The working distance, about 2 feet, is perfect for insects or other creatures that would get scared and move away if you got any closer. Images sharp.

Cons:

Not really a negative, but the lens' build is not up to par with Canon L lenses.

I have used Canon 100 f2.8 macro and Sigma 150mm f2.8 macro for Canon for a few years. I just switched to Nikon and did an extensive research for a new macro lens since I like to shoot close ups like flowers and butterflies. During the research, I found this lens was mentioned many times to have excellent optics, but seems often get ignored due to another excellent macro lens, the Sigma 150 f2.8 macro. And this lens doesn't seem very popular. Since I have used the Canon 100 f2.8 macro and Sigma 150 mm f2.8 for quite a few years, I decided to try something new for my new Nikon D300 camera.

I just got my new lens for a few days. All I can say is "Wow!" . It's incredibly sharp. I did a focus chart test and this lens is proably the best, in par with my Canon 300 f2.8 IS. The focus is dead-on. And the images from this lens are so sharp that it's simply sharper than both of my Sigma 150 for Canon and Canon's 100 f2.8 AF lenses. It's probably in par with my best lens, the Canon 300 f2.8 IS.

The AF on this lens is really noisy, like a typical Tamron lenses. But what make this lens stand out is the MF (manual focus). The MF is very fine, that is, you need to rotate the focus ring a lot to change focus from one point to another, kind like a very fine mechanical machine. The MF mechanism is so smooth that everytime I use it I just felt it's so SWEET. The adjustment is very fine that you can easily tell whether a part is in focus. And I can use my bare eye through the D300 view finder to do MF without the need of an angle finder (Canon term, don't know the corresponding part for Nikon yet.)

The boken and background from this lens is simply georgeous! This matches exactly what I found out duiring my research.

Many people say the 180 macro is big whe ncompared to the Sigma 150 and the 100's macrps. Not true with this lens. I found the size for this lens is comparable to the Sigma 150 f2.8. It's probably a little bit smaller but with a longer and bigger hood. From the B&H web sites, it shows the same weight as the Sigma 150.

The max aperature for this lens is f3.5. However, the lens at f3.5 is sharper than my Sigma 150 at f2.8, though which is usable too. I cetainly wish it has f2.8, but it only cost USD$600. I'm satisfied!

The only real issue I found with this lens is its built : purely plastic. So far it's good and I can only wish it will last. The tripod collar is solid, though not comparable to the Sigma 150, it's better than the add-on Canon tripod collars I bought for my Canon 200 f2.8 and Canon 70-200 f4 IS lenses.

Overall, I like it and now I'm even considering to get its little brother too: the Tamron 90mm macro.

I'd recommend this lens to any one if image quality is your main concern!

Feb 9, 2008

foto_manOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Aug 29, 2007Location: ChinaPosts: 0

Review Date: Sep 23, 2007

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

very sharp when wide open, stunning sharpness after stop down a bit

Cons:

Need time to get use to the focusing mode

Got a good copy from ebay. It's a very sharp lens and the sharpness is at least on par with Canon's counterpart. Once you get use to the focusing mode, you can even use this lens to take photos of fast-moving butterflies! Highly recommended.

It was a tough decision between choosing this lens and the Canon 180mm macro. After trying some shots with the Tamron I was convinced it was for me. It turns in excellent sharpness and very good contrast. Ideal focal length for getting in close to small insects, butterflies, even frogs.
Some do not like the speed of focusing, but it has never bothered me.

Jan 28, 2007

fuzzybabybunnyOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Aug 24, 2005Location: United StatesPosts: 761

Review Date: Jul 8, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Extremely sharp.

Cons:

Cheap plastic feel. Autofocus is *retarded* too much of the time. Slow, loud, hunts on objects that you feel should be contrasty enough to focus on.

Jul 8, 2006

cincyMATOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jul 13, 2004Location: United StatesPosts: 2

Review Date: May 31, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $575.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

The Tamron 180 is a tack sharp macro lens. Good contrast with very real color. Pictures are very sharp mated to my Nikon D2x.

Cons:

AF is slow and loud compared to Nikon AFS. HOWEVER, when using MF for macro work the focus ring is smooth and easy to use.

Some may consider the Tamron 180 to be cheaply constucted because it's so light. I think anything that produces such tack sharp images and is this light to be a quality piece of engineering. In addition I like the extra working distance the 180 provides compared to my Tamron 90 macro.

May 31, 2006

MarkSapersteinOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Sep 23, 2003Location: United StatesPosts: 1344

Review Date: Jan 20, 2005

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $550.00
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Very good build quality. Excellent optics. Ability to rotate polarizer filter with the hood attached. Price.

Cons:

None so far.

I have had two copies of the Canon 180 macro, and recently acquired the Tamron. I sold my first Canon because I didn't think it was as sharp as I was lead to believe. When the second copy performed the same as the first, I decided to try the Tamron. The Tamron is a bit sharper than the Canon, even stopped down. Color and contrast are basically the same (both excellent). The bokeh in the Canon 180 is just slightly smoother than the Tamron (maybe there is an extra aperture blade or two?), but it is still very pleasing with the Tamron. Autofocus is slow, but accurate (same with the Canon). Build quality is quite good. The lens feels solid (though not as solid as the Canon). The clincher for me is the new Filter Effect Control (FEC) ring. This allows you to rotate a polarizer filter while the hood is attached. Last but not least, the street price is about 1/2 of the Canon price. I highly recommend the Tamron 180 macro.

Filter effect control: the moving filter ring shold be something good, but in real life it's anoying to have your flashes twist around when doing macro work

After a long and extensive search for a good and long macro lens I gave this lens a try and fell in love with it: it's the sharpest lens I've ever used and the only one whichs AF beats my MF skills.
It has a very usable lens hood included, tripod collar (which could be build a little bit more massive, but works as designed and easily hold my D60 + battery grip + lens + flashes without problems) and a very smooth focus ring which makes MF a joy.
Besides Canon 100mm macro lens it's one of the few lenses that has VERY good corner sharpness when focused to infinity, so I recommend it for astro work, too.

tripod collar paint not so strong, i have few days and its already few scratch on the paint.
Switch between AF and MF is a bit nopt comfortable, especialy when you go near to the insect, if u want to switch there's a click sound that some times make ur insect run.

i use Canon 50mm f/2.5 macro and change to 100mm f/2.8 USM macro, at the end still need the working distance, so at the end i'll try Sigma 180 f3.5. from my friend.

But after compare the result with Tamron 180, i choose Tamron one, cos im not trusting sigma for optically and compability with canon.

At the end it was one of my finest lens i ever used, the result u can match with canon L lens but with half price of it.

if you serious macro i recomend it before u buy other, slow AF? who need AF when u shoot macro, i use micro positioning plate or manual focus, but most of the time i use 550EX with ST-E2 transmitter to trigger, so just use handheld.

Aug 18, 2004

AntjeOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Aug 18, 2002Location: GermanyPosts: 6157

Review Date: Jul 27, 2004

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $700.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Sharp, relatively light, good working distance (it's a 180mm after all), good colours and contrast, filter control, good focus ring (I like the clutch mechanism), accurate AF, easy to MF

Cons:

Hood is huge! Lens doesn't feel very solid.

I don't think it's fair to compare this lenses AF with other telephoto lenses - after all, it focuses all the way from infinity to 1:1, and that takes some time! Agreed, it focuses slowly, but it does so relatively quiet (no USM or HSM here, sadly) and when it stops, it usually is in focus even on my 10D. It's best focused manually though. The giant focus ring helps a lot, focusing is smooth and accurate even with the dim viewfinder of the 10D.
The build quality isn't very high, but then, this is not an L lens, is it. It's made of plastic - but it doesn't feel like it's going to fall apart any minute. I don't expect it to stand as much abuse as my 300/4 L USM. The tripod ring indeed is solid on my copy. Be prepared though that it does require steady support. A good tripod and head is mandatory here whereas its smaller brother, the 90/2.8, is far less demanding. That said, the lens is quite light - it's easy to lug around and to handhold when using flash. That's the good thing about the plastic casing and I do like it, my bag is too heavy already...
The image quality is superb, nothing less. The colour, contrast and sharpness are top notch, the detail is fantastic - what more can one want?
It comes with a nifty bag with a rather unique shape. The bag is usable though, well padded and easy to use. Another great thing is the filter control ring which allows you to control a polarizer with hood attached. Great, you would not be able to turn the polarizer with that huge hood otherwise.

Overall, this lens is recommendable, a very good macro lens with excellent working distance, sharpness and overall image quality.